Friday, February 25, 2005

sorrow 1 & 2

{SORROW} is the theme of illo friday. these 2 drawings were the 1st eva i did for ahhht school. it was for my "narrative drawing" class where we wrote stories for 20 mins in class and then drew/paint them. i decided to write about going to nova scotia as a kid b/c i'm trying to write a children's book about this. my mom and dad built a house there out of driftwood, on stilts, by the ocean. it is probably being munched up by squirrels by now b/c i haven't been since i was 13... let's do the math...16 years ago!

the image above is of hartley with a divining rod. his little farmhouse burnt down one year and he got a new small red one delivered to him from sears or the canadian equivalent. he taught jesse, my sister and i how to use the divining rod to find a new water source. somehow the memory of hartley makes me sad, an old alone fisherman.

the image below is rather subconscious free association, but is based on an obese fanged cat named snookums! he was owned by our neighbors lester & idella. who were/are so sweet in my memory. i think the sadness comes from the elephant in the room... visiting nova scotia where my dad is buried {he died when i was a year & 1/2} and where he spent his summers as a child and built a home, and all the collaged layers represent figuring that out as a kid, and now as an adult... you'd think i'd have it figured out by now, alas.

it's interesting how i too used the image of caged birds a la Penelope. her's is quite beautiful, sorrowful indeed.